Broom-corn fiber.



No. 786,579. PATENTED APR. 4, 190 A. J. MIDDLETON BROOM CORN FIBER.

APPLICATION FILED 001 31.1904.

messes Patented April 4, 1905.

PATENT OEEIcE.

ALBERT J. MIDDLETON, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

BROOM-CORN FEBER= SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 786,579, dated April 4, 1905.

Application filed October 31, 1904. Serial No. 230,822.

To all whom it ntmy concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT J. MIDDLETON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Broom-Corn Fiber, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a new article of manufacture and is intended primarily to provide a practical money-value use for one of the byproducts in the manufacture of brooms which heretofore has been nearly a complete loss to the broom manufacturer.

The invention relates to the utilization of the parts of the broom-corn stalks which are connected with the brush portions of the broom-corn utilized in broom manufacture, which stalk portions, while practically a dead loss to the manufacturer, have been bought and paid for by him at the same price per pound which he has had to pay for the serviceable brush part.

The object of this invention is to utilize in a commercial way these parts of the broomcorn which have been waste heretofore. The object also is to utilize this material in the production of broom-handles, which are more serviceable and are easier on account of their more elastic nature on the hands of the broom users than are the wooden handles heretofore in use and on account of the heretofore useless nature of this broom-stalk product are cheaper to the broom manufacturer than wooden handles, which are becoming expensive because of the scarcity of timber. It frequently happens that a considerable percentage of the wooden broom-handles bought for use by the manufacturer are found to be worthless on account of knots, crooks, or flaws in the wood.

In the accompanying drawings, which will assist in making my invention more easily comprehended, Figure 1 represents a sheet of my new material used in this manufacture; Fig. 2, a sheet partially rolled up into a broomstick, and Fig. 3 a complete broom- I stick with broom attached.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

My new manufacture consists, first, in the formation of the new composition of matter comprising the following ingredients combined in the proportions stated, viz: shredded broom-corn fiber, one quart; gluten, (preferably in form of whole-wheat flour,) two tablespoonfuls; glue, two table-spoonfuls; resin, one table-spoonful. These ingredients are to be thoroughly mixed and cooked together at a temperature of 70 Fahrenheit. While at the above ten'iperature the mass is run between a pair of horizontal rollers to produce sheets approximately one-sixteenth of an inch thick and of any desired length and width. The new sheet material thus produced is well adapted for many purposes such as carpctlinings, the linings between the sheeting and weather-boards of houses, and the like but the special use to which I have applied it is in the manufacture of broom-handles. For the purposes of the last-named manufacture I make the sheet of a width equal to the length of an ordinary broom-handle, which is fortytwo inches, and then roll it around a steel or brass Wire core into a roll approximately one and one-eighth of an inch in diameter. The roll thus formed is then compressed to a scant one-inch diameter by passing it while at a temperature of 70 between pair of rollers having mating half-round grooves.

In the drawings, .i represents the composite sheet referred to above, and 5 the metal core around which the composite material is wrapped or rolled to form the handle shown in Fig. 3. I

By properly regulating the size and shape of the grooves in the last-mentioned set of rollers the handle can be compressed more at certain parts than at others to cause a variation in the diameter of the finished handle at different parts of its length.

A center or core of hickory wood or other strong material maybe used in place of the wire. The core will have a protecting coat of paint, and the outside of the handle will be finished with at protecting coat of varnish.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and wish to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. The herein-described composition of inatter consisting; of shredded broom-corn fiber, gluten, glue, and resin, mixed and heated. to a temperature of approximately 70 Fahrenheit 2. The herein-described composition o'fmetter consisting of shredded broom-corn liber, gluten, glue, and resin, mixed and heated to a temperature ef approximately 7O Fahrenheit end then rolled into sheets.

3. The herein-described composition of mat-- ter consisting ol shredded broom-corn fiber,

gluten, glue, and resin, mixed and heated to :1 temperature of approximately 70 Fahrenheitend then. rolled into sheets of approximately one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 22d day of October, A. D. 190%.

ALBERT J. MIDDLETON. in. s] Witnesses:

F. W. WoERNnR, JOSEPH A. MINTURN. 

